The background description provided herein is for the purpose of generally presenting the context of the disclosure. Work of the presently named inventors, to the extent it is described in this background section, as well as aspects of the description that may not otherwise qualify as prior art at the time of filing, are neither expressly nor impliedly admitted as prior art against the present disclosure.
Physical commodities, such as precious metals, are mainly used for fabrication, for consumption, and as a store of value. In the present day, however, the historic functions of physical commodities as a medium of exchange and unit of measurement of the value of goods and services have become largely replaced by deposit currencies. Such deposit currencies have certain advantages over physical commodities, e.g., deposit currencies may be less prone to theft, easier to transport, and have a lower risk of forgery and/or debasement. Nonetheless, some investors choose to own physical commodities as a hedge against volatility in stock markets, since over time they have produced similar returns as major stock indices without being correlated with them, as well as for other reasons. Thus, there is a need for a system and method that reduces or eliminates the disadvantages, while maintaining the advantages, of trading and storing physical commodities.